Investors News

Paid in Full Foundation gives legends five-year grants

Paid in Full gives five-year grants to hip-hop pioneers who never got paid for work that built billions.

StartupHub.ai Staff

By StartupHub.ai Staff, reviewed by Daniel Singer, Editor

2 min read

Grandmaster Caz performs with Nile Rodgers and Chic in Las Vegas
Credit: a16z Blog
Visual TL;DR
Pioneers Never PaidDriver
hip-hop pioneers built billions but never got paid for work
Paid In Full FoundationCore
started 2022 by Ben and Felicia Horowitz in Las Vegas
From the article 2 mentionsThat is the grant the Paid in Full Foundation gave each honoree in Las Vegas, as reported by a16z Blog from the Bellagio Tower Ballroom.
Five Year GrantsContext
five years with no strings attached back pay not charity
Legends Finally SupportedOutcome
grandmaster caz left projects after first checks arrived per report
Grants Fund Real NeedsOutcome
past recipients used aid for homes medical bills unfinished records
Debt Framed PlainlyDriver
ten dollar album gave Horowitz five million in value per report
From the articleBen Horowitz framed the debt in plain numbers.
Model From JazzContext
From the articleThe model takes its cue from Quincy Jones and the Jazz Foundation, but it stretches emergency aid into multi-year support that past recipients used for homes, medical bills and unfinished records, per the report.
Rapper's Delight SalesDriver
From the articleSugar Hill counted at least that many sold for "Rapper's Delight," which became hip-hop's first Billboard Top 40 hit, per the report.
Pioneers Never PaidDriver
hip-hop pioneers built billions but never got paid for work
Paid In Full FoundationCore
started 2022 by Ben and Felicia Horowitz in Las Vegas
From the article 2 mentionsThat is the grant the Paid in Full Foundation gave each honoree in Las Vegas, as reported by a16z Blog from the Bellagio Tower Ballroom.
Five Year GrantsContext
five years with no strings attached back pay not charity
Legends Finally SupportedOutcome
grandmaster caz left projects after first checks arrived per report
Grants Fund Real NeedsOutcome
past recipients used aid for homes medical bills unfinished records

Five years with no strings attached. That is the grant the Paid in Full Foundation gave each honoree in Las Vegas, as reported by a16z Blog from the Bellagio Tower Ballroom.

It is back pay, not charity.

The effort dates to 2022, when Ben Horowitz and Felicia Horowitz started it, as noted in a post by investor Brian O'Shaughnessy. The model takes its cue from Quincy Jones and the Jazz Foundation, but it stretches emergency aid into multi-year support that past recipients used for homes, medical bills and unfinished records, per the report.

Ben Horowitz framed the debt in plain numbers. He paid $10 for Eric B. and Rakim's Paid in Full and got at least $5 million in value, per the report. Grandmaster Caz lived the other side of that math while still in the projects until his first checks arrived, per the report.

Consider what two million copies meant. Sugar Hill counted at least that many sold for "Rapper's Delight," which became hip-hop's first Billboard Top 40 hit, per the report. Big Bank Hank rapped Caz's lines verbatim, down to Caz spelling his name, and Caz never got royalties or songwriting credit, per the report.

Chic got a different outcome on the same record. After "Good Times" was lifted, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards hired a lawyer who knew where financier Morris Levy's bodies were buried and won publishing and royalties, per Rodgers in the report. It took some Sugar Hill rappers nearly forty years and decades of litigation to recover what they were owed, per the report.

The D.O.C. shows the West Coast version. He was promised 35 percent of Death Row Records, valued at $100 million in 1996 by Vibe, yet he says Eazy-E gave him a gold chain for his publishing and he never got the stake, per the report. Kurtis Blow, Kool G Rap, Grand Puba and Video Music Box creator Ralph McDaniels were among this year's honorees, per the report.

What the numbers do not show is scale. Grant amounts, total paid out and selection odds are not disclosed in the report. One audited total would change the read from moving nights in Vegas to a durable fix.

How many other rhyme books are still paying someone else?

Mentioned in this story

Sources

Get the free daily brief every morning

Every morning the day's AI news, new AI startups and new funding rounds. Free and takes a few minutes to read, unsubscribe at any time.

Join 64,000 other subscribers.

TopicsBen HorowitzGrandmaster CazNile RodgersKurtis BlowD.O.C.Paid in Full FoundationChicSugarhill Gang

StartupHub.ai Staff

Written by

StartupHub.ai Staff

Editorial team

The staff writers of StartupHub.ai, ranging from investment analysts to avid AI tool users, early adopters and critical enthusiasts. Backgrounds span engineering, business and the arts. We hold every piece to rigorous standards of research and review.

Daniel Singer

Written by

Daniel Singer

Editor, reviewed this article

Daniel Singer is an AI expert who has been writing about, covering and building AI technology since 2018.

More from Daniel Singer

Test your Agent Readiness now

Paste your website. How well ChatGPT, Claude and the other agents can read and use a site, in about a minute.

Watch

The videos behind the news, one flip at a time

The feed mixes the videos from our articles with startup demos and you flip through them like TV channels for free with no signup.

Open the video feed